Personal video recorders (PVRs) allow for users to have television shows and other video automatically recorded. In turn, these shows and video may be viewed by a user at his or her convenience. As PVRs are typically stationary devices, such viewing is often through a stationary device, such as a fixed television.
Portable devices with video capabilities are becoming increasingly common. Users may synchronize such portable devices with PVRs. In other words, a portable device may connect to a PVR and receive content stored by the PVR (e.g., stored within the PVR's disk drive). Currently, the process of synchronizing with a PVR is a manual one. Thus, users have to choose individual television shows and “sync” them (obtain them from the PVR).
Further, if a user watches a show on his or her mobile device, the PVR does not “know” that the show has been viewed. As a result, the user has to manually update the PVR (e.g., by deleting shows already watched, etc.). This shortcoming complicates user involvement with the PVR. This can be especially challenging when multiple users of the PVR have their own portable video player devices.